Costco told me they don't carry ProZinc?

Discussion in 'Prozinc / PZI' started by Kris & Motska (GA), Mar 8, 2011.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    So here's the story.... I was continuing to use up the last of my Vetsulin, because it had been working pretty well for Motska. I knew we were going to have to change soon though, due to the problems with it and the halt in production. And I knew that I would want to switch to ProZinc. Additionally, we started with a new vet this past month, had a dental and 6 extractions done two weeks ago, followed by a few days worth of Torbutrol (pain meds) and a week's worth of Clindamycin (antibiotic). So I wanted to make sure all of that had gone well and that she was healed up before I switched insulins.

    Fast forward to last night. For the first time in more than two years of treating Motska's diabetes, I dropped the insulin and broke the vial into a hundred pieces. ohmygod_smile

    So apparently we're switching to ProZinc RIGHT NOW!!! I called Costco to see if they had it in stock, and the Pharmacist told me that he doesn't even see it in the computer. ??? I can get it at my vet's office -- they said that they'll have it ready for me when I get there later today, which is fine for now. But I really want to find the cheapest place to get it, and thought that it would be Costco, based upon what I read in the sticky that Gator had put together. (BTW... Thanks Gator -- that sticky is incredibly helpful and well-organized!!!)

    So my questions are.... Has anybody had the same problem with Costco? How have things gone for those of you that order it online for delivery to your house? (I'd have to have it delivered to work -- one of my roommates sometimes picks up the mail, brings all of it into her room and forgets about it for a few days -- and by the time I could get in there to get my insulin, it would be warm.)
     
  2. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Not sure. Others will be along with their sources. Have you contacted other Costcos in your area? I think I have heard they have differing things available in the pharmacy at different stores.
     
  3. nancy and payne

    nancy and payne Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2010
    No local pharmacies will have ProZinc, it is considered ONLY for animals. In fact, trying to get U40
    syringes is impossible outside vets office or internet because human insulin does not come in U40 size ....
    sorry.
     
  4. Rob & Harley (GA)

    Rob & Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Check with another Costco, I think I heard that some carry it and some do not. Also, when I went to my Costco and asked about it she couldn't find it either but when I told her it was a vetrinary insulin she was able to locate it.

    She said that they would need 2 to 3 days lead time to order it and get it in for pick up. If you live in a cold weather climate you may want to pick it up so it doesn't freeze during shipping.

    Good job finding a new vet and getting the dental. Have you seen any improvement in bg's since?
     
  5. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    As I understand it to this point, some Costcos have signed up to the veterinary products pilot program and others haven't. I'm suspicious that the closer you are to Chicago the better your chances.

    I like Robin's suggestion.

    Also some local compounding pharmacies carry veterinary only products [I have a couple in my area that do]. The way to find out which ones do is to speak with your vet. Or if you do not want to acknowledge to your vet that you are shopping a med then you can cold call other vets and see if they might know.

    You can also look up local compounding pharmacies in google and/or look on the Professional Compounding Centers of America site http://www.pccarx.com/contactus.aspx . They used to have a locator tool on their site. Maybe if you call them they can point you to their locator tool?

    Mar Vista Vet also has a list of compounding pharmacies
     
  6. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    Thanks -- I'll definitely try calling the two other Costcos in the Orlando area. I'm not optimistic, but it's definitely worth a try. And yes, I'd make sure to pick it up -- not because it would freeze, but because it would get way too warm. :D

    And I'll also be sure to try Gator's suggestions for pharmacies as well.

    As for her BG numbers, I'm sorry to say that I haven't seen ANY improvement in them -- in fact, they've gotten a little worse, and I can't figure out why. I would have thought there would be an improvement with her bad teeth gone and the rest of them cleaned. Before the dental, her PS numbers were in the yellows and blues. The past two weeks, they've been in the yellows and pinks.

    At first I thought it was the all stress of having to take the liquid meds... and then having diarrhea and then having to also take Immodium (per the vet). So it was a lot of meds (all liquids), which I know she didn't like -- (Clindamycin tastes REALLY bad -- and I only tasted 1 drop -- if you've ever had Everclear to drink, it tastes like that). But she's been off all of the meds for a week now, so no more stress from that, and her BG's are still not back down to where they were. And then factor in that late last week I changed her food to Friskies Special Diet Turkey & Giblets due to the lower Phosphorous content than the Special Kitty that I had her on (her pre-dental bloodwork came back with her USG slightly out of normal rage). And now I'll be changing her insulin -- I'm no scientist, but I really hate having so many variables and not knowing which one(s) is/are the cause of the problem. I just hope that switching to a better insulin will help smooth this out for her.

    But despite her numbers being a little bit worse, her personality has perked up a bit. Until several months ago, she used to sleep on my nightstand or between my ankles -- as if she was making sure to keep tabs on me. But she gradually stopped that, and I just thought it was that she liked the lovely cardboard box that Amazon.com sent for her to sleep in! But now she's back to her old behaviors and explores around the house a little more than she used to. So I guess we'll just wait and see how she does on the PZ.
     
  7. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    I was just saying in another topic that I generally view the [DM treatment] process as removing the variables by careful attention to detail. So you are on the right path.

    Oh you are in Orlando! Ha! H's brother F is in Orlando. :smile: Yea we've tried to get pet meds down there from Winter Park Costco and they were not in the program. If you find pet meds at any of Costcos down there let me know!

    Taylors Compounding pharmacy is EXCELLENT. I'm not sure if they carry vet meds [but I know they do compounding for pets]. But they are very friendly and you might be able to talk to their manager to see if they know any that might.

    And let me know what you come up with.

    Allivet.com is in FL too - you might convince them to ship to you via priority mail and not FedEx overnight since you are so close.
     
  8. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Well, that is disappointing after doing all that work not to see some blues and greens. Paws and fingers crossed that PZI will make a difference.

    What beginning dose are you thinking? Assume you will use U100 syringes and the conversion chart.....Check out Laura and Harley's SS and threads. Laura is doing a fantastic job with mini doses.
     
  9. hollyall

    hollyall Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2011
    Paws crossed that the PZI does the trick. Sounds like she had a lot to go through the last couple weeks, so hopefully, as she has time to heal and get on the new insulin, the #'s improve. I think when I had my wisdom teeth out, it was at least two weeks before I felt totally normal. ;-)
     
  10. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    Well, I have the ProZinc -- it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be -- $97.28.

    But the vet suggested we "start over" like you would with a newly diagnosed cat at 1 unit BID. But with the Vetsulin, she was on .1 or .2 BID. They're both U40 insulins, so that means that I'd be giving 5-10x as much insulin as before! So I just smiled at her, said "OK" and came home to give Motska .5 unit. It's still more than she was getting before, but I feel like that's a reasonable place to start.
     
  11. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Good for you. It is so much easier to add insulin if needed than to deal with a hypo. Hope you can get a few tests in so we are sure she is in safe numbers.
     
  12. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Good for you! When Harley went back on insulin my vet wanted to start on 1u bid and I said flat out I wasn't comfortable with that dose. She asked what I'd start with and I said 0.25u, and she said OK. I figured we can always go up if needed. :mrgreen:

    Good luck!
     
  13. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    It looks like I might be in for a long night.

    PMPS = 279 = .5u ProZinc
    +2 = 180

    So she's dropped 100 points in just 2 hours. cat(2)_steam She's obviously not in the danger zone right now, but I have no idea how much more she's going to drop or what time she will hit the nadir. I guess I really should have started her at .2u. We'll see where we're at in another 1/2 hour....
     
  14. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    Good for you for watching. Hopefully you are up on the procedures of what to do? Do you have any medium carb and/or high carb food on hand? Sorry I haven't been following your case. Seems like you might have a pretty good idea how to proceed.

    This topic is a good primer on how to "steer the numbers"

    ProZinc usually starts pooping out by +7. Nadir *should* be around +6 BUT it can nadir early at +4 or even +3 sometimes - especially at the introduction of it. It seems to take them a little getting used to maybe.

    So do keep on eye on that +3 and see where you are going.
     
  15. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Ditto on what Gator said. With Harley the PZ is at nadir +2 or +3 so keeping watch is a smart move to be on the safe side.

    We're with you!
     
  16. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    Just took a look at your SS. EDIT: mm just saw the 216 to 85 on .1f so yes do keep an eye on things. Not sure if you free feed or not? But they tend to want to self correct when their numbers go low by eating. So having food available is probably a good idea. I have my fingers crossed for you guys that it all comes out good and if anything she gets to spend some time in the safe greens tonight. :smile:
     
  17. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    I'm going to test in a few minutes (at +3) and then see whether I want to continue at 30 min or 15 min intervals.

    All prepared here.... Karo, honey, dry food, med carb wet food.... and plenty of test strips....

    Probably need to go fix a cup of coffee, too. Our +6 would be at 1am (let's hope for an early nadir!!!!)
     
  18. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    So my theory is that if you have high carb food and syrup, you are less likely to need it. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. :mrgreen:

    I'll be around for a couple more hours and will watch for you. If you get into a place where you are worried, go on Health and ask for help.

    The good news is that the PZi seems to be working okay!
     
  19. judy and squamee(GA)

    judy and squamee(GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Good thing you listened to yourself instead of your vet! Good luck tonight. Maybe just leaving food available will suffice.
     
  20. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    You sound like a grizzled veteran. :smile:
     
  21. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    +3 = 173

    Phew! We're not out of the clear yet, but I'm not quite so panicked anymore!

    So my next question is.... If she does hit an early nadir and doesn't hypo, any suggestions about what I should do tomorrow morning? Do .4u instead of .5u, just to be safe? Yes, I realize that I'm jumping the gun on this one, because we don't have a nadir yet, and obviously don't know what her AMPS will be -- I'm just nervous, because I work outside of the home and won't be here if she hypos.
     
  22. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Let's see what you end up with tonight. She could surf for awhile.
     
  23. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    One of the reasons I say that ProZinc tend to nadir early in the beginning is my suspicion that along with just getting used to the insulin the dose may be too low. I usually interpret early nadir with ProZinc as not enough insulin. But of course ECID.

    I would base what to do tomorrow on what you final PS in the morning is [as long as you don't go too low tonight].

    I'm usually all for changing the dose every cycle. But when the cat is just starting out on a new insulin I would probably try to stick with a dose for at least a few cycles or more. I say this just because you might get variability in the BG just from the kitty getting used to the new insulin which would complicate really telling the effects of changes in dose. If thing are going too fast [you go too low or your PS drops big] here you could back off to maybe the .2u you were at before and try that for a few days to see where you get? It's hard to really know without seeing more what would happens tonight.

    If you wanted to change the dose ever cycle then I have some ideas about that here.
    Basically if your PS to PS drops more than 20-30 points [in this PS range] I would back off on the dose. By how much is based on how big the drop from PS to PS would be.
     
  24. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    +4 = 84

    And she's been snacking during the past hour. So I guess I will be up for a while yet. I'm going to start checking every 15 min.
     
  25. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Welcome to PZI! :lol:

    My guy's in the 70s +3 and scarfing. Looks like I'll be up with you too.

    Solidarity sistuh! :mrgreen:
     
  26. judy and squamee(GA)

    judy and squamee(GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    good to keep a watchful eye. But maybe she'll nadir early and you can get some shuteye. Good luck!
     
  27. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    If you want, you can test but 84 is a good number. 40 is a number to start testing every 15 minutes. You want to stay on top of this, but you don't have to worry yet.

    Keep breathing, Kris. You and she are doing fine.
     
  28. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    Thanks for the help and encouragement everyone!

    And Laura, I just realized that you are in Des Plaines -- I grew up in Park Ridge! And when I was in High School and College, I used to work at Rand Park/Mystic Waters! How funny is that!
     
  29. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Seriously? I used to go Rand Park for summer swim lessons - I guess I'm dating myself by saying I didn't know the name had changed... ohmygod_smile

    And how do you like Florida?
     
  30. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    When they turned it into a waterpark, they changed the name to Mystic Waters (not sure if that's what it's still called). I worked there during the summers from '91 through '98. I love Florida -- I've been here since October '99. But my family is still up there and I miss being there for the family stuff....
     
  31. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    I took swim lessons there in the 80s - a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

    I know what it's like to miss family, when I went away to college in Iowa it was great but I couldn't wait to come home to see my family which included 4 cats. :)

    How's Motska doing? She's a pretty kitty. I love calicos!
     
  32. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    I'm not so happy with her numbers right now.

    +4:15 = 82
    +4:40 = 64
    +4:55 = 54

    So her drop isn't slowing down. I may be overreacting, but I'm going to get the karo and some dry food....
     
  33. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Kris, I would try high carb before syrup. and not a whole lot - you want her to eat for you later if you need her to. See if the high carb will bring her up a bit.
     
  34. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    My recommendation is to reserve the syrup/honey until you get to 40 or below and have tried dry medium or high carb food and she still won't go up [or she won't eat any higher carb food]. 54 is a good number to try medium carb [or high carb perhaps in this case] food. If you do get the to point of doing the syrup take some and rub it on her gums. Just like the high carb food you don't want to drown her in it. :smile:

    Do you know what % your "medium carb" is? What kind of dry food do you have?
     
  35. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    She ate approx 2-3 tablespoons of dry food, and I tried to rub a little bit of Karo on her gums, but not sure if she got much of it -- she was really trying to get away.

    The dry food is Fancy Feast with Savory Chicken & Turkey and the wet "medium-carb" is Friskies Prime Filets Chicken & Tuna Dinner in Gravy -- I can't remember off the top of my head what the carbs are in it -- I'll look it up after I check her again right now....
     
  36. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Friskies Prime Filets Chicken & Tuna Dinner in Gravy is 19% carbs. Looking for the other one...

    EDIT: According to J&B's food charts
     
  37. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    The Friskies wet food is what I would probably classify as high carb [low high carb but probably high carb] not medium carb. Often just when they lick the gravy a little you will see it in the numbers. A little tends to go a long way.

    We should definitely see something from the karo shortly. So let's hold off on any more until you take another reading.
     
  38. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Fancy Feast with Savory Chicken & Turkey is not on J&B's dry food page. Perhaps too new? Anyway it's got to be at least 19% if not more.

    Come on Karo, do your stuff.
     
  39. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    +5:15 = 55

    According to Janet & Binky's charts, the canned is 19% carb and the dry is 28% carb.

    Laura, how's Harley doing?

    ETA: The dry is listed at the very bottom of the dry food page listed under "other."
     
  40. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    So I'm just going to post this while I'm thinking of it, I know you have your hands full - maybe read it when you are in the clear. If you get a couple rising numbers after +6 then I would think you are in the clear [but I would still test at 1/2 hour after the couple rising numbers just to be sure].

    Anyway, you have not technically hypo'ed tonight [yet] but this is good read for what to do after a intervention like you have now undertaken:
    Cat Hypo'ed last night now what?

    You she might be really high in the morning and it's just important to not "shoot into" any high number [with a correspondingly high dose] that to be conservative and let the intervention kind of clear out of the system the next cycle.
     
  41. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Thanks for asking - he hit nadir earlier at about +2.5ish. He scarfed a ton of low-carb food and is rising now but I'm still watching him.

    In fact, going to check right now...

    EDIT: He's good - just tired from the roller coaster ride.

    How's Motska?
     
  42. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    Thanks Gator -- I do have time to read it in-between testing Motska tonight -- she's a momma's girl, so she's right here by my side & fairly easy to keep an eye on. As for tomorrow, I'm thinking probably either .1 or.2u -- depending upon how high she is in the morning.

    Glad to hear that Harley is doing well!

    Motska's +5:30 = 63 -- and we're about 5 min away from the +5:45 test....
     
  43. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    That sounds better. Syrup can bring them up temporarily so as Gator said, you want 3 rising numbers before you can relax and go to bed. If she is willing, you might feed her some medium carb to see if that helps her surf in the 60s or higher. Just not a whole serving....
     
  44. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    The Karo will give a quick bump in the BGs the dry food is more extended release. So I would not be surprised if you end up with a high number in the morning. Sometimes too when they go low [from going to a low number, having a big delta - change from highest to lowest - or going to fast down] they can "rebound." Basically you would see this as likely increased numbers in the morning. So there are a couple things that could be working if you got high numbers in the morning.

    So some more reading for you if you are not familiar with rebound.
    http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Rebound
     
  45. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Sorry to leave you but I need to turn in as we have an AM shot in 4 hours. Kris, you're in good hands with Sue & Gator. All the best to you and Motska, she's lucky to have such a caring mama bean. cat_pet_icon

    I'll check in on you two in the AM.
     
  46. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Gator, if you are going to be around a while, I'll check out. If you aren't, I'll stay.

    Kris, be sure to add all the numbers to your SS. Then if you get into low numbers again, you know how you dealt with it and how it worked.
     
  47. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    I'll stick around. West Coast time helps. :smile: Thanks for checking Sue - goodnight.
     
  48. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    +5:45 = 65
    +6 = 65

    So does this mean that we're surfing? At least, I think we're out of the immediate danger zone -- and feel okay with monitoring her from here on out, if the rest of you need to get some sleep. Thank you Gator, Sue, and Laura for the help. If she had been hypoing on Vetsulin, I would have been okay, since I have 2 years of experience with how her body reacts to it. But to have such a hard and fast drop on the first night giving ProZinc after only giving a .5u dose -- I was at a complete loss for what to expect!!! Thank you again!
     
  49. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    Yea, well two readings the same is not totally surfing yet but you have dropped into the wave. Three readings about the same... now that's surfing. 4 readings is like hangin' ten. :lol:

    +6 is the *expected* nadir with ProZinc so it's likely all up from here - but no promises. It doesn't look like you got a major overload of insulin so I would not expect that to extend the time of the nadir.

    I'll stick around for a while it is not that late here.

    Thought I would also note that Joanna is the person here that I know has the Vetsulin to PZI experience if you ever want her $0.02 you should PM her [Joanna & Bix].
     
  50. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    Thanks Gator -- I appreciate that! It is now +6:15 and she's at 58. Grrrrrrr..... I'm just going to try to remind myself that 58 is still within 20% of the previous reading, so maybe she didn't REALLY go down that much.
     
  51. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    Hmm, yea that is within the error range and still technically an OK number. Your choice to let her lick at the wet food or wait until the next reading. Maybe let her lick at the wet [high carb] food so you can get to bed sooner.

    Edit [11p pacific time]: Any more tests? How's she doing?
     
  52. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    After the +6:15 reading of 58, I gave her aooroximately 15 more pieces of dry food -- it probably wasn't necessary, but I'd rather err on the side of caution this time.
    +6:30 = 73
    +7 = 98

    I'm going to give it another 15-30 minutes and test again. Hopefully I'll be able to go to bed then -- it's 2am and I'm exhausted!!!
     
  53. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    OK, yea that looks good. I'm feeling good about this. It would have to be pretty whacky to go back down from here.

    On the bight side now we know she might nadir at +6 or so. :smile:
     
  54. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    +7:15 = 122 So maybe I overdid it with the dry food. That's okay.

    Off to bed.... Thank you again for your help Gator! Have a good night!
     
  55. Gator & H (GA)

    Gator & H (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 3, 2010
    Goodnight.
     
  56. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    Well, we made it through the night. She wasn't happy about the fact that I kept interrupting her nap to poke her ears, but I think the fact that she got to eat dry food more than made up for it!!!

    But I'm still mad at myself over this. My first instinct was to start with a dose of .2u BID and see how she does on that, because of the fact that I'm switching from one U40 insulin to another -- therefore the dosing should be similar, if not the same. The vet said to start her at 1 full unit BID, which I knew would go horribly wrong. But nooooooooo -- instead of going-with-my-gut, I compromised and gave Motska .5u instead. So I'm mad at me, mad at the vet, thankful to still have my baby-girl and thankful that you were all there to give me advice and encouragement!

    Her AMPS this morning was 400, and after I fed her, I planned on giving her just a drop or so of insulin, but that didn't work out very well.... She hid under the bed and anytime I got close to reaching her, she scooted over to the opposite side. Then I 'd go over to that side and she'd scoot over to another corner. I gave up pretty quickly -- she was scared and there's no reson to make it worse, especially since I stood absolutely NO chance of catching her.

    So we'll see how it goes tonight and start over at .2 units.
     
  57. Sue and Oliver (GA)

    Sue and Oliver (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    This sounds like a good plan, Kris. Are you planning to tell your vet what a disaster his advice would have been?

    Poor baby. She is probably tired of getting poked. It won't hurt to give her some time off. It will take awhile for the syrup and dry food to wear off.

    Great job last night. I imagine a PZI hypo looked different than a Vetsulin one. :D
     
  58. KristenP&Sam

    KristenP&Sam Member

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2010
    Wow, what a night! Chiming in late, but just wanted to say I'm glad you guys made it through so well. Also, I'm in Rockledge, FL, so howdy neighbor!
     
  59. judy and squamee(GA)

    judy and squamee(GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    How about congratulating yourself for doubting the vet and for doing such a good job protecting your kitty when things went wrong? Being willing to compromise with someone who has (or is supped to have) more expertise is not necessarily a bd thing---especially since you didn't ignore your own gut.
     
  60. Laura and Harley (GA)

    Laura and Harley (GA) Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2011
    Hey Kris & Motska!

    I'm so glad Gator was able to hang tight with you and that all is well. You rock \M/ and please, please, please do not beat yourself up about the dose you gave. It was your first night with a new insulin. You did a fantastic job! Very calm, cool, and collected, you knew what to do and had the right tools on hand to make everything come out alright.

    Sending a big hug for you :YMHUG: and purrs for Motska. cat_pet_icon
     
  61. Kris & Motska (GA)

    Kris & Motska (GA) Member

    Joined:
    May 17, 2010
    I do plan on letting the vet know that she gave me some not-so-good advice. I'll probably wait until I get home and have the time to think it through and find a POLITE way to let her and the rest of the vets there (I'm going to send this to their general e-mail address) know that she should have listened a little better to my opinion and my concerns -- and that her advice could have had disastrous consequences. And I'm going to make sure I include all of the BG readings I took last night -- I DO think that she'll read it, since they have recommended that I do a curve in a couple of weeks and fax the results in to them so they can see how she's doing on the PZ. They are very current on Feline Diabetes treatment protocols, and I will continue to take Motska there -- they just made a bad judgement call this time.

    KristenP -- Howdy to you, too, neighbor!
     
  62. hollyall

    hollyall Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2011
    Sounds like you had a wild ride last night but knew just what to do. I'm always so impressed how wonderful people on the forum with the support they give. Paws crossed you have an easier night tonight and can get some rest. I second the others that you shouldn't beat yourself up as you halved the dose your vet recommended. Sounds like your vet based their advice on their standard beginning dose for PZI, not realizing/listening that Motska is a pretty low dose kitty.
     
  63. eeraby

    eeraby Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2010
    RE: Costco carrying ProZinc

    When I first heard they were carrying it, I called locally (didn't have) and then I called 2 stores in Chicago. Neither one had it, hadn't heard of it.

    Was about 6 - 8 weeks ago. I think it's probably just a rumour.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page